Andrew Mushita and Carol Thompson
Africa World Press, 2008

A new book co-written by veteran Zimbabwe agronomist Andrew Mushita and United States-based political economist Carol Thompson, titled Biopiracy of Biodiversity -- Global Exchange As Enclosure, is a path-breaking work on one of the most important issues in the near future.

The work by Mushita -- a director of the Community Technology Development Trust, and Thompson, a professor of political economy at Northern Arizona University in the US -- is a timely and critically important contribution that examines biopiracy in Africa, indigenous knowledge systems, biodiversity and international instruments on trade and intellectual property rights.

This book, published recently by Africa World Press, also focuses on sustainable farming, the limitations, successes and dangers of industrial agriculture, US trade relations in Africa, the land issue, food security and international instruments on seed and the need to preserve biodiversity as a policy for food security.

In many ways, the book, persistently works to advance public understanding of complex issues related to biopiracy, biotechnology, indigenous knowledge systems, World Trade Organisation instruments on patenting and strategies to deal with food insecurity and the rampant and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.

Mushita and Thompson argue that the essence of seed exchange is sharing and not to profit as is happening in the world today. They say the current tendency to sell seed, pollute and put the dollar first can be damaging to the traditional important ways of life that seek to share seed to grow plants across the world and protect the environment.

"Yet the terrible other side of the story is that all this richness, beauty and wealth -- germinating from sharing is now threatened," the authors say in the opening chapter titled, The Ancient Future.

"It is being destroyed by refusal to share, by hoarding for a false, ephemeral prosperity. It is being destroyed in the name of science, of law and 'just reward' in the name of innovation, power and of profit."

The book is enjoying rave reviews worldwide.

"This book provides vital information to a cross-section of stakeholders for understanding challenges posed by international agencies and highlights the need for strategic policy alternatives to sustain biodiversity. I recommend it for reading by all those practitioners involved in economic development and food policy issues," said Godwin Mkamanga, director of the Sadc Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Lusaka, Zambia.

The authors also contribute to a vital dialogue about the effects of globalisation on traditional farming systems in Africa, the use of food aid as weapon of domination by powerful countries and the dwindling use of African grains.

They say the US government sent genetically modified (GM) maize kernels to Southern Africa in 2002 as food aid, without bothering to care about the high risk or uncertainty that the shipments would pollute the local genetic maize pool.

ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE AND MALAWI REJECTED THE GMO MAIZE

"The view from the inside of the continent looking out is that aliens have responded to drought and famine with inappropriate technology, expensive (highly profitable to some) unsustainable inputs, trade barriers against African goods and more loans than grants for so-called food 'aid'," Mushita and Thompson point out.

The authors also argue vehemently for the protection of Africa's biodiversity which is now increasingly being poached by Western countries. They say indigenous knowledge is a key weapon for the survival of the people on the continent.

Mushita and Thompson say the demise of traditional medical knowledge was due to slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism and globalisation. For long, they say, indigenous communities used their own traditional knowledge to treat successfully ulcers, asthma, diabetes and sickle cell anemia among a string of other ailments.

Bio-resources have been shared freely for centuries as people exchanged seed, plants and animals for breeding and the writers say, what is new and disturbing is the patenting of the seed "whether an offered gift or stolen cultural secret" into private property.

In many parts of the developing world agricultural diversity is an important part of people's culture. Researchers say this diversity helps to provide stability for farmers who grow a range of crops.

If one particular crop or variety fails, the others help make up the difference. But today, Africa's large and diverse biological diversity is now at risk with many plant and crop species under threat of extinction owing to pollution, unsustainable use practices, climate change, introduction of exotic species, civil conflict, intensified human activities and other factors.

Mushita and Thompson give an in-depth historical overview on biopiracy relating this colonial legacy to piracy in the 21st century.

A 2005 report by the US-based Edmonds Institute and the African Centre for Biosafety indicates 34 examples of Western laboratories developing drugs, cosmetics and industrial products using material from African plants, animals or microbes.

Researchers expressed concern that a lot of materials have been exploited from Africa without public accounting and any permission from the communities involved. The report detailing 36 cases of biopiracy in Africa titled "Out of Africa: Mysteries of Access and Benefit Sharing" generated heated debate at international meetings on negotiations of fair deals for developing countries to benefit from their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

The report outlines 36 case studies of medicines, cosmetics and agricultural products that originate from biodiversity (including plants, marine life and microbes) in African countries and that have been patented by multinational companies without there being evidence of benefits accruing to the countries of origin.

The 2005 report's author, Jay McGown, says in the introduction: "It's a free for all out there, and until the parties to the CBD solve the problems of access and benefit sharing, the robbery will continue. They've got to declare a moratorium on access until a just protocol is finished and implemented."

The new book by Mushita and Thompson take the debate on biopiracy further, arguing that biological resources exploited for medicinal, agricultural, horticultural and cosmetics uses show no evidence or even information of benefit sharing agreements.

They also discuss the debate about intellectual property rights and analyse new and different laws under the WTO before moving on to propose that the extension of intellectual property rights over seeds and plants challenges scientific logic and threatens biodiversity.

The book speaks out in a simple and captivating way explaining how plants, roots and seeds define the community through healing.

"Most often, women are the keepers of the seeds, tucked away among the beams in the thatched roof, protected from pests by smoke from cooking fire. Others are stored in tins in another location. Villagers volunteer labour to build storage buildings for seed banks, protecting the treasure within the public trust," the authors wrote.

The same happens when African farmers choose seed from the best plants in the field using traditional farming "genetics" that takes into account seed yielding the most grain, preferred colour, pest resistance and drought resistance.

But when international aid agencies come in, the writers quote one Zimbabwean plant scientist, they come with advice and an agenda that focuses more on "yield, yield, yield" ignoring taste because the American industry manufactures taste with additives of sugar and citric acid.

"On the farms in Africa, the choices are complex and subtle and learned from the older generation. Farmers with the reputation for having good seed will be sought out and will harvest more seed, ready to exchange it," Mushita and Thompson say.

They say at one time, over 3 000 species were used as human food but now, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that only 150 plant species are cultivated, 12 of which provide approximately 75 percent of food needed and four of which produce over half of the food people eat across the world.

The writers respond proactively to this challenge and say: "The future of the planet depends not so much on military power nor capital speculation but on each one becoming informed, debating and making choices about global exchange or enclosure of seed and plants -- our collective nourishment, our wealth."

This book refers both to the African continent and to the region of Southern Africa and captures the experiences of the people as it pertains to biodiversity, biopiracy and traditional knowledge systems.

The emotive land issue in Southern Africa is also discussed in detail showing its importance when it comes to food security and food self-sufficiency. There is a section which compares and contrasts international protocols for seed exchange from agencies trying to reconcile the demand for patenting, the respect for indigenous knowledge and the need to preserve biodiversity as a policy for food security.

The final chapter summarises policy recommendations relevant both to other developing countries and the US. In contrast to current international policies which have reduced the role of the state, the recommendations include the public sector as a vital player in preserving biodiversity and delimiting piracy.

Mushita and Thompson call for the fostering of new patterns of relationships through seed exchange and sharing of information. The Western world continues to infringe on human rights and the ecological balance of nature in Africa through the export of seed GM, seed hybrids, biopiracy and promotion of unsustainable technologies in agriculture.

And this book, which argues against the commercialisation of science and the commodification of nature, is a clarion call that should be widely read and discussed by everyone concerned with biodiversity. It advances public understanding on issues related to the environment and development which are happening in the world but are not getting reported in the mainstream media.

* Sifelani Tsiko is an award winning Zimbabwean journalist. This review first appeared in the Herald, Zimbabwe.

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